Hand brake for railway cars



' Oct. 26, 1926. 1,604,563

L. .J. BROWN HAND BRAKE FOR RAILWAY GARS Filed May 2I 1925 2Sheets-Sheet l 7 i1/tomato@ /yz E 77 W 25/ n l f oct; 26,1926. 1,604,563

L. J. BROWN HAND BRAKE FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Mav 2, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet2 attozmm it is constantly equivalentV to the Patented oa. 26, 1926.-

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LLoYn .1. BROWN, on nvaNs'roN, ILLINors, AssmNon rro E. I'AYsoN SMITH,'or

. SPRINGFIELD, ILLINoIs.

HAND BRAKE FOR RAILWAY CARS.

Application led` Hay 2,

A rulingby the American Railway Association which is effective March 1,1925, re- A'quires that new freight cars or cars rebuilt after March 1,1925,"shallhave hand brake arrangements as 'follows with respecttobraking power; the hand brake wheel, or hand brake ratchet levers,brake` staff at chain, and the hand brake levers between the brake staffand cylinder shall be so proportioned that a torce of 125y pounds at therim of the brake wheel, or three inches from the outer end of vthe handbrake ratchet lever` will develop an equivalent load at the The objectof m invention is to amplify' the power ,applic at the hand wheel, .orratchet lever, by thetrainman, e uivalent to the power of the air brakean at the same time to afford a means oftakinfr up the slack in thebrake rigging and c ain quickl without a sacrifice of power when needeand to provide a quick release.`

Theoretically the power transmitted by my improved ear mechanism isdouble that required in or er to compensate Jfor the large percentage ofloss of power due to friction and other causes before its output.

Another object of my invention is to take up quickly and immediately theslack'in the brake chain, after which the ratio is reversed and thepower is increased so that of the lever at the air brake cylin er withlair pressure or a minimum of 3950 pounds,

so that the car can be gotten under control.

in a short distance and keep it under control and stop it at therequired location.

A further object ofmy invention is to provide an'intermittent segmentalgearing which permits of change from 1 to 1 ratio to a 5 to 1 ratio, orother effective ratio.

My invention consists in a gear train of l three `component parts;first: one full lcircle pinion gear and an integral quarter circlesegmental gear on a lower plane than I the pinion; second a threequarter circle segment gear of a--diameter iive times that of saidpinion, and a one quarter circle segment gear in a plane lselow thethree quarter circle gear; third: a substantially.

oval shaped brake chain spool connected with the three quarter circlegear; and my 1925. serial N. 27,481.

nation of out.

In the drawings: Figure lis a top ll'an view of my improved brakeattache to a car.

Figure 2 is auf end elevation of Figure 1.) Flgure 3 isa verticalsection of Figure 2 showingfmy invention in elevation.

Figure 4 is a top plan view-0f my improvedhandbrake gearing, the housingbeing removed.

Figure 5 is a partial sectional view and edgeelevation looking from thebottom of Figure-4 upward.

The reference numeral 1 designates the usual brake staff, or ratchetlever of any approved type to which is. keyed or otherwisesecured, thepinion 2. This pinion is provided with an elongated hub 3 `into whichthe brake staff fits. v This hub is provided with shoulders 4 andvextensions 5 which are adapted to be engaged by the housing plates forthe gearing. A segmental gear 6, of approximately one quarter circle isformed integrally with the pinion 2 and a hub 3, but in a lower planethan the pinion as clearly shown in Figure 2.

The gear 74 is a segmental or interrupted I vgear of about threequartercircle and of a iameter ve times that of the diameter of stantially ovalshaped brake chain spool 1G,

to which the chain 11 is secured in any suitable manner, as forinstance, by the pin 12.

-Theunder face of the chain spool is recessed, as at 13, to clear theembossing on a suitable housing plate. The chain spool, as will be seen,is mounted off center. The oval shape facilitates the quick take up ofthechain and relieves the strain on the chain fastening pin 12. Theperiphery of the chain spool 10 face being equal to 15 at the centerline of the chain.l

The segmental A gears 6 and 9 are o't the same diameter.`

The extended ends 13 ofthe hub gear 7 functions as bearings.

At the starting position shown in Figure 1 the segmental gear 6 andsegmentalfgear 9 are in mesh. rllhe teeth of these segments remain inmesh until the vusual slack in 8 ot the brake chain and rigging has beentaken up,`

ratio causes the quick take up. These seg-V mental gears, 6 and 9, actas intermittent gears, that is when they have accomplished a quarterturn of pinion gear 2 and large segmental gear 7 they'go out of mesh andpinion" gear 2 and large segmental gear 7 v come i'nto mesh and vyouhave a ratio of 5 `to 1, dueto the intermittent feature.

When the quick take up voperation is com-l pleted then the large seental gear 7 comes in mesh with the sma pinion gear 2 and the gearingthen goes into a condition of maximum power, with a ratio of 5 to 1,

which means that full power can be'applied at .thispoint of theoperationor any lsuc-l ceeding points or as soon as brake shoes are v ina taut position against the wheels. I .When cars are built new or`rebuilt there is fromY 31/2 to 4 inches of slack in the brake v ichain. This is `considered an ideal condition and one that the railroadslike to maintain. The quick `take up feature of this brake isdesigned'to accomplish this condition orto take up approximately 4inches of chain and 'lever slack before going into power.` After carsare in service for some lmonths brake shoes wear, brake chain stretches,brake lever rods and all brake connections wear, all of which conditionsgive more slack in brake chain and brake co n. nections. Whenthiscondition occurs there is then more than 4 inches of slack in chainand brake )connections which necessitates travel in maximum powercondition until all slack is taken up and durin which time the gearingor brake develops t e maximum ower ratio and continues to do so untilrakes are in a full set position.

It is a necessa feature that a hand brake shall have a quic release aswell as a quick take up, otherwise .the brakes would .drag

vor in some casesstick due toy time consumed in release.

Action of mechanism: When startin release, the small inion gear 2 andthe arge segmental gear being in mesh to accomfrom .going out plishpower are in a tense position due to braking power (required by AmericanRailway` Association interchange regulations) on brake shoes. When brakeratchet is released this tension will quickly throw the teeth ofsegmental 'gear 6 and segmental gear 9 into mesh accomplishing quickrelease.

It will be noted that segmental gear 6 and segmental gear 9 perform onlythe function of quick take Yup and quick release. as the,

power ratio of these gears is extremely low (ratio, 1 to 1). f

On the large segmental gear 7 attotal y release position there isprovided an odd sized tooth 14 which acts as a stop and prevents thequick take-up and quick release (segmental gear l6 and segmental gear 9)of mesh.

The spool which is attached to the shaft lof the large segmental gear isof an odd shape with an oit center hole. These feaf tures give a quickertake up and more power due to the fact that the larger circumfer- Y enceof the spool is so designedl that it corresponds with the quick take -upgears. When you pass the large circumference of the spool (578circumference you are downon a spool which has a smaller diameter-whichis constant for the remaining 5/8 of the circumference of spool andwhich consequently gives you-uniform power, which corresponds with theuniform power transmitted by the pinion gear 2 and large segmental gear7.

The housing comprises an upper and a lower' section. The upper sectionhas a front ortion 15 which extends beyond the end ofp the car and arear portion 16 which, in the type of car shown, extends under the endsill and has arms 17, the outer ends of which are turned down as at 18,the rear portion being supported by means of a knee iron 19 to which itis riveted, and it in turn is riveted to the end sill. tion 15 isprovided with depending ianges 20 which with the lower housing member,to

The front porbe described, prevent the foot and clothing of u theoperator from damage by said gearing, besides rotecting the gearing fromthe elements, ust and cinders. Eastening mem'- bers 21 extending fromthehousing 'member 15 'are adapted to be secured tc the "car structure tohold the housing in place.

The lower housing member 23 has two bearing points the other for theshaftS. This lower housing section has lugs 22 which are secured to thelugs 18 of the upper section, the forward portion 24 of the lowersection having one for the brake sta 1 and lugs 25 which are secured'tothe lugs 2() of l the upper housing section. These bearings extendupward in the housing so that the shafts 8 and 3 ride upon them, and actas sup ortin members to prevent tipping or fo g o the gears when poweris applied.

Top section of housing has two bearings. The brake shaft passes throughthe bearing for pinion gear 2 and the upper part of the shaft whichcarries large segmental gear 7 passes through the other bearing point.These bearing points extend downward and rest on the hub of theirrespective gears and act as auxiliary supporting members to preventtipping and fouling of gears when powfer is applied to mechanism.

Across the top of upperse'ction of housing,4

lugs 21 are provided for attachment to car 16. These lugs also preventbrake from tipl ping when power is applied, which tipping would causebinding action affecting the operating efiiciency of the mechanism. For

the construction of the parts and relative arrangement of parts withoutdeparting from thescope of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

In a car hand brake, the combination with the brake stad2 a pinion onsaid staff, and a segment gear integral with said pinion -but in a lowerplane, of a comparatively large interrupted gear wheel, a relativelysmall.

segmental gear positioned inthe zone of interruption of the larger gearand in a lower plane than'the larger gear, `and adapted to engage the`first named segmental gear, a substantially oval sha ed brake chainspool secured to the shaft olthe larger gear; and a stop on the largergear to prevent the said hopper cars the lugs 21 would be attached toJsegmental gears from 0in out of mesh.

the lower section of the housing. l

I am aware that changesv may be made .in

In testimony whereo I a x m LLOYD J.

signature.

nwN.

